This article provides a step-by-step guide as to how you can quickly and easily write a suitability report to a client confirming your recommendations to top up an existing investment or pension. While it’s perfectly possible to document a recommendation for a top-up or bed & ISA in a Suitability Report or Review Report 2.0, if all that you’re recommending is a top-up or bed & ISA, then the Top-up / Bed & ISA Report Type will streamline the report writing process and result in a more concise and reader-friendly report covering all the salient points.
1) Select or add the client
Go to Write report and select or add the client to whom you wish to write the report.
2) Select the Report Creation Method
3) Create the report
In Report Details, give the report a name and select the Report Type. Assuming you're creating the report 'from scratch' we'd suggest using the Top-up / Bed & ISA Report Type.
4) Add the required advice sections
You’ll then be directed to the Report Builder where you should add the necessary sections from the 'Available sections' drop down, which in this case will be:
- Relevant review section(s).
- Recommended Investment Strategy. This is only required if you're recommending a change of investment strategy for the existing plan(s) in the review section(s).
5) Complete all section wizards
Next you'll need to step through the section wizards of all the sections that require your input, starting with the Introduction Section.
6) Complete the Introduction section
Within this section that you'll be prompted to provide:
- An update on the client's circumstances.
- An overview of the client's objectives.
In the Client Objectives step you should select the objective: “Top up your existing *investment / pension*".
Having selected the objective you should then click on the Edit objective / Add kyc info link to the right. This will open a new window where you can edit the wording of the selected objective and add some further Know Your Client (KYC) information to it e.g.
“You wish to maximise the tax allowances available to you and invest a further £5,000 into your existing ISA with Transact before the tax year end”.
7) Complete the Client Risk Profile section
It's in this section that you will confirm the client's attitude to risk and capacity for loss.
8) Complete the review section
You’ll be prompted to provide some information regarding the existing investment / pension within the Plan Summary step of the review section. As a bare minimum, you should include some basic policy details e.g. provider name, policy number etc and the Current Fund Value £.
You may also wish to include details of the existing plan's Current Investment Strategy. If you're also recommending a change of investment strategy, we'd strongly recommend you do.
You will also be prompted to summarise the on-going charges of the existing plan in the Current Plan Charges step. In the Recommended Action step, you will need to confirm what action you are recommending in respect to the plan, which in this case could be:
- top up; or
- top up and switch the underlying investments of; or
- top up and switch the model portfolio of; or
- top up and rebalance the existing portfolio of.
Selecting a top-up related recommended action will also trigger the Recommended Contribution step and Revised Plan Charges steps. It is in the former that you'll be prompted to include the top-up amount.
Finally, you can confirm any disadvantages associated with the recommendation being made in the Key Disadvantages and Tax Implications step.
9) Possibly complete the Investment Strategy section
If you are recommending a different investment strategy for the top-up amount or a change of investment strategy for the whole plan then you can include details of the new investment strategy being recommended in this section.
10) Complete the Important Information section
This is the last section you'll need to complete and is self-explanatory.
11) Tailor the structure of the report
Having completed all of the section wizards you should then tailor the structure of your report by unchecking any sections you do not wish to include in your report; and then change the sort order of any sections to reflect your personal preferences.
You’ll find more information about how to remove sections from your report here.
You'll find more information about how to reorder the sections in your report here.
12) Download the report / covering letter
Click the Download report / Download cover letter icon and the report / covering letter will download to word.